Abigail Adams letter discovered

Editors at the Massachusetts Historical Society thought they knew about all of the thousands of letters President John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams, wrote. Until they heard from Lawrence Perera.

By Lane Lambert

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Lane Lambert

Posted Jun. 14, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 14, 2011 at 2:12 PM

By Lane Lambert

Posted Jun. 14, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 14, 2011 at 2:12 PM

» Social News

Editors at the Massachusetts Historical Society thought they knew about all of the thousands of letters President John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams, wrote. Until they heard from Lawrence Perera.

Thanks to a gift from the Boston estate and trust lawyer, the historical society now owns a hitherto unknown letter the future first lady wrote in London to her Weymouth friend Dr. Cotton Tufts on March 2, 1788, as she and John Adams were packing their belongings to return to Braintree.

“Any Abigail Adams letter has some significance,” historical society managing editor Margaret Hogan said. “But this one has more because it was one of her last letters back to the U.S.”

The letter offers a snapshot of the couple’s personal life at an important moment of transition. It also includes Abigail’s comments on the American constitutional ratification, and her always-sharp observations on British and European politics.

John Adams was completing three years as the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. On their June 1788 arrival in Massachusetts, he and Abigail moved into “the Old House,” now the Adams National Historical Park. Later that year Adams was elected George Washington’s vice president.

Tufts, a highly respected physician, handled the Adamses’ business affairs while they were in England. He purchased the Braintree home on their behalf.

Hogan said Perera is a historical society member, and that he knew the letter was in family papers he’d inherited. But she said “he didn’t know its historical significance” until he showed it to historical society scholars in April.

Hogan said there are no immediate plans to post the letter on the society’s website or otherwise display it.

Abigail wrote the letter at a momentous time for the Adamses and their country. Massachusetts and five other states had just ratified the proposed new constitution, and eight other states were still debating ratification.

That prompted Abigail to write Tufts that it was necessary “for our own National honour and dignity, Safety and security” to adopt “a New and more respectable form” of government – a stronger federal system.

On the personal side, Abigail writes Tufts that the family’s 1788 packing is “the most troublesome removal I have ever made.” She also asks Tufts to pay the freight charges for a crate of sherry wine she and John Adams have sent ahead.

Hogan said Abigail would have given her letter to a trusted ship captain – a typical way overseas correspondence was delivered then. When the ship docked in Boston, the captain would have taken Abigail’s letter to the post office or sent it to Tufts by horseback delivery.